The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to uplink-based positioning reference signaling in multi-beam systems.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some wireless communications systems, a device such as a base stations or a UE may communicate directionally using beamforming techniques. In such systems, beamforming may involve the use of multiple antenna elements configured to form a beam in a particular direction. In some cases, wireless systems may support both single and multi-beam system operations. For example, single beam operations may be enabled for lower frequency bands (e.g. below 3 gigahertz (GHz)) while multi-beam operations may be enabled for higher frequency bands (between 3 and 6 GHz or higher).
Positioning support may be utilized for services of a wireless communications system (e.g., emergency services). However, in some wireless communications systems, UE positioning may not be supported and as a result, the UE may resort to alternative or legacy systems capable of supporting UE positioning to provide services that rely on UE positioning. Uplink-based positioning, also known as network-based positioning, may include a UE sending a position reference signal (PRS) or reference signal such as a sounding reference signal (SRS) as an uplink transmission to support positioning procedures. Downlink-based positioning, also known as UE-based positioning, may include a base station sending a PRS in the downlink to support the positioning procedures. Such techniques may be sufficient for legacy wireless communications systems, however, more efficient techniques for uplink-based positioning in multi-beam systems may be beneficial.